Wretched Rabbit, Spiral Staircase inwards, Traditional Route outwards

Wretched Rabbit Entrance Series

A short crawl soon leads to a series of climbs, rigged with handlines (February 2016). The initial steep 3.5m climb is rigged from a scaffold bar. Below is an easy 2m step down onto a ledge. [An inlet and a bedding plane crawl enter on the right here.] A further 4.5m climb, steep for the bottom half, lands on another ledge. The final 5m climb is less steep, with good footholds.

At the bottom of the climbs is Big Rift. 30m ahead is a side passage to the right [which soon leads to a rope climb]. Just ahead is a 3m-deep hole, lined with boulders, with an inlet entering from the right. Ahead is the traditional route. Descending the hole leads into Spiral Staircase Passage.

Spiral Staircase Passage

Spiral Staircase Passage is reached by descending the obvious large hole at the end of Big Rift in Wretched Rabbit. This descent is sometimes wet, and becomes impassible in very wet weather.

Ahead is a crawling passage, which gradually enlarges to stooping then walking. After about five minutes, a junction is reached, just after some formations. [To the left soon leads to a pitch, re-joining the normal route below.] The normal way on is to the right. Soon, a stream joins from the right. A short climb followed by a crawl soon leads to a climb down onto a pile of stacked rocks in a larger passage.

[To the left leads to the bottom of the pitch noted above.] [Turning right then right again leads into a rift with a climb down into Eccles Bypass, leading to the Borehole, Slit Sinks and New Slit Sinks.] Turning right from the stacked rocks leads to a balcony looking down into Green and Smelly Passage, which leads to the connection with Pool Sink and to Holbeck Junction.

Green and Smelly Passage

From the confluence of Spiral Staircase and Eccles Bypass, a balcony looks down onto a chamber, split by a ridge. The way on is a short traverse to the right, followed by a climb down between boulders. This drops into Green and Smelly Passage. [Doubling back leads into the split chamber noted above; an obscure crawl at floor level leads under the ridge into the other half of the chamber.]

A few metres ahead, a streamway enters from the right [which leads into Lower T-Piece Passage in Pool Sink]. Walking passage (with the water flowing in an oxbow to the left) leads to a small chamber. A crawl leads to another chamber. [To the right is a dry route into Lower T-Piece Passage.] Ahead leads towards Holbeck Junction.

Green and Smelly Passage to Holbeck Junction

From the confluence of the Pool Sink and Spiral Staircase/Borehole routes, the passage continues as walking passage, with the water flowing in an oxbow to the left. After two minutes, a pool is reached at the junction of two joints: turning left then immediately right, a stoop leads into a 6m high chamber with the stream flowing from the right. A few steps downstream, a dry passage to the right provides the easiest way to Holbeck. [Continuing ahead, a wet crawl leads to where the stream disappears ahead. A dry crawl to the right leads to the main streamway, where it hits a choke.] Taking the dry passage leads to a step over boulders, followed by a gentle descent to Holbeck Junction.

Holbeck Junction

Holbeck Junction is a major junction in the upper Easegill main streamway. The junction itself is often dry, as the stream runs in an oxbow.

Several routes lead from Holbeck; in clockwise direction:

• Downstream soon leads to a choke; a crawl to the left provides an alternative route to Green and Smelly Passage.

• Ascending a boulder slope to the right of the stream provides routes towards Stop Pot and Gypsum Caverns.

• Upstream is Thackray's Passage leading towards Top Sink with a connection to Boundary Pot.

• To the left of the stream, behind a 2m high boulder, is a dry passage leading to Green and Smelly Passage, with routes to Pool Sink, Spiral Staircase in Wretched Rabbit, Slit Sinks and New Slit Sinks.

Holbeck Junction to Stop Pot

From Holbeck Junction, the route to Stop Pot ascends the boulder slope to the right of the streamway. [The route towards Gypsum Caverns leads off to the right.] Two routes leads off to the left after 4m and 8m; the routes soon reunite, with the latter providing the easier route. An easy bouldery passage continues, with the stream audible below. Parallel routes split and then recombine in a chamber, with the right-hand route providing the easier route.

Ahead, the stream is met at a large pool, deep in places; [an alternative route to the left, over large boulders, avoids most of the water.] The way to Stop Pot is quite complex; the general tactic is to follow the right-hand wall. In more detail, the route follows the stream on the right-hand wall, and then continues ahead where the stream cuts left. The route continues to follow the right-hand wall, gently up over boulders, and through a "doorway" to where the way ahead drops sharply. A clamber 1.5m up over boulders to the left leads onto a boulder-strewn ledge, descending gently towards the stream. Before the stream is met, a clamber up reaches a ledge with small stal bosses. This leads down to a short mud-floored section of passage. Then a route over more boulders, still following the right-hand wall, reaches Stop Pot.

Stop Pot

Stop Pot is a major junction in the Easegill streamway. It is in a very bouldery area, with a boulder choke downstream.

Several routes lead from Stop Pot. The following are described from a position in the streamway, surrounded by boulders, at the base of the boulder slope leading up to the fixed ladder, where the streamway splits. In a clockwise direction:

• Upstream, following the left-hand wall, leads to Holbeck Junction.

• A few metres upstream, on the right-hand wall, a climb onto a ledge leads to Depot Passages.

• Following the stream downstream to the left, and clambering ahead over boulders leads to a dry route through the choke, towards Eureka Junction.

• Between the two branches of the stream is a large ascending boulder slope; part way up the boulder slope, on the left, is the route to Four Ways, a flood-escape route into Wretched Rabbit.

• At the top of the boulder slope is the Stop Pot ladder, up to Mainline Terminus at the start of the high-level route leading towards Lancaster Hole and Cow Pot, with a connection to Link Pot, Pippikin Pot, Bye George, Peterson Pot, and Mistral.

• Following the stream downstream to the right leads to the wet route through the choke, towards Eureka Junction.

Stop Pot to Eureka Junction

In reasonably dry conditions, the easiest route from Stop Pot to Eureka Junction is to follow the streamway, near the right-hand wall. The route is in, or just above, the stream, all the way through the choke.

[Alternatively, from Stop Pot, a drier route starts by following the stream to the left, into the boulders. A slight left turn leads into a flat-roofed crawl, with some small stal on the left. The crawl becomes lower, and has an orange floor in places. The way opens out beyond the choke, and a short slope leads back down to the streamway, to rejoin the wet route.]

Beyond the choke, two minutes of easy walking in a large stream passage leads to Eureka Junction.

Wretched Rabbit Passage, from Eureka Junction to Depot Junction

A muddy passage leads off to the left of the streamway at Eureka Junction. Very soon, a junction is reached: the route to Wretched Rabbit is to the left; [straight on leads to Poetic Justice and Trident Passage in County Pot.] A short roof traverse leads to a vadose passage. The walls here are covered with a thin layer of mud, caused by water backing up from Eureka Junction.

After about three minutes, the passage lowers to a crawl. The crawl passes calcited cobbles suspended from the ceiling; it is driest to the left at this point. The crawl passes stal flow and pillars; again, keeping left is the driest route. Ahead, the stream emerges from a low passage; the easiest route is to step up into a roof oxbow. Where the passage widens, holes connect down to stream level; a step across these holes reaches a traverse. A step up over the stream reaches a continuing roof oxbow, with various holes back down to the stream.

After a couple of minutes, the stream is regained at a junction; [ahead chokes after 3m.] To the left is a meandering streamway, narrow in places; this passes a large stalactite, and includes a short crawl. After about three minutes, an easy 4m climb is reached. Above the climb, the stream emerges from a low passage. The best route is a slightly awkward 2m climb up to the left, leading to a step across a pot in the floor above the stream. Soon, a junction is reached.

• To the right, a step across a pot regains the stream, leading towards Spiral Staircase Junction and Wretched Rabbit Exit.

• Ascending the inlet to the left leads toward Depot Passages.

Wretched Rabbit Passage, from Depot Junction to Spiral Staircase Junction

A series of easy climbs lead up into a meandering vadose passage. The stream is lost, and after about three minutes, a junction is reached; [the passage ahead is blind after 1m.] To the left leads to a climb up to the left and a step across a hole in the floor, into an abandoned vadose passage. After about two minutes, an inlet enters from the left, and a 3m-deep hole, lined with boulders, is met. Descending the hole leads into Spiral Staircase Passage. Skirting the hole and continuing ahead leads to Wretched Rabbit Exit.

Wretched Rabbit Exit

Big Rift leads past a side passage to the left [which soon leads to a rope climb]. 30m ahead is the start of a series of climbs, rigged with handlines (February 2016). The first climb is 5m, and fairly easy, with good footholds. From the ledge at the top, the next climb, of 4.5m, follows immediately; the bottom 2.5m is steep and awkward with small footholds. [An inlet and a bedding plane crawl enter on the left at the top.] An easy 2m step up leads to the next ledge. The final 3.5m climb is steep with small footholds: there is a useful toehold about 1.7m up. From the top, a short crawl leads round a corner to the exit.